LG unveils the ‘G5’, its first modular Android smartphone

LG unveiled a modular Android smartphone which gives users the ability to change components or upgrade functions with add-on parts.

The G5 smartphone, showed off at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, has a sleek, metal uni-body featuring a Slide-out Battery and a Modular Type design, which LG says allows users to easily swap out a depleted battery for a fully charged one in seconds.

The LG G5 is the company’s first ever modular smartphone.

The smartphone features a 5.3in (13.5cm) display, a 2,800mAh removable battery, 2GB of onboard storage, and a microSD expansion slot.

It runs on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 820 chipset, which is accompanied by 4GB of RAM inside the G5.

However, LG Mobile planning chief Dr. Ramchan Woo told The Verge: “If I’m here to just tell you about these numbers, you will not be excited… The mission of the G5 is to wake up your play instinct.”
The South Korean tech giant revealed two optional modules – which it calls “friends”.

One of the modules is a B&O 32-bit digital to analogue converter (DAC), which can be added by simply sliding the module into the phone case. The module makes the phone capable of playing sounds at a higher resolution.

The second module is a camera controller called LG Cam Plus which LG claims will make it easier for users to use the phone’s camera. The LG Cam Plus features a large camera grip for single-handed photography and comes packed with extra battery power. It has a physical shutter button, a video recording key, an LED indicator, and a dial which can be used to control zoom. When attached to the LG G5, it provides an additional battery capacity of 1,200mAh to allow for longer shooting times for more fun and enjoyment.

The G5 comes with two camera lenses on its back

Another unusual feature about the G5 is that it has two cameras on its back; a regular 16-megapixel imager camera and a 135-degree wide angle 8-megapixel camera. The 135-degree wide-angled camera offers a larger field of view than the human eye or any other smartphone, LG claims. The wide angle lens makes it easier for users to capture more landscape, taller buildings or larger groups without having to position oneself further from the subject.